Escala – THEN
The members of this girl group already had a taste of fame before their audition on Britain’s Got Talent. Two of the members were in a band who were signed to EMI and they all met while performing as part of the string section in a McFly arena tour. But what exactly set them apart from other musical act? Their techno rendition of Karl Jenkin’s ‘Palladio’.
There was quite a bit of controversy surrounding Escala’s presence on the show; they were allegedly invited onto the show after playing an X Factor wrap party in 2007. ITV have denied these allegations and said:
“Escala went through the same application and audition process as everyone else.”
After reaching the finals, Escala signed a £1.5m record deal with Sony BMG and went onto release an album.